About 300 pro-gun activists, many of them armed, gathered for a rally Saturday afternoon at the Alexandria City Hall in Virginia.
A recently passed state law allows Virginia cities to ban firearms in specific locations such as government property. Alexandria is the first city to propose local restrictions like this.
“No more gun control!” the activists chanted Saturday afternoon.
Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League (VCDL), led the rally. He began by saying that the Second Amendment is the “Right that defends all of the other rights.”
“There’s no doubt that if we lose the Second Amendment, it’s over,” Van Cleave said.
“We need to let them know that this is not the United States of the Democratic Party,” said Chuck Smith, a Republican candidate for Virginia Attorney General.
“This is not the United States of the Black Lives Matter. This is the United States where all lives matter,” he told the crowd. “Police Lives Matter.”
Paul Moog, the founder of the VCDL, made the point that he wants to rebrand to “peaceable gun owners” because “law-abiding gun owners, not so much anymore. If they’re gonna pass stupid laws, forget that.”
Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group “Moms Demand Action” tweeted a criticism signs claiming that “Gun control is systemic racism.”
“400,000,000 guns in the hands of civilians and too few gun laws haven’t changed 400 years of systemic racism or stopped police brutality,” Watts wrote. “In fact, Black men and boys are 15 times more likely to be shot and injured than their white peers.”
400,000,000 guns in the hands of civilians and too few gun laws haven’t changed 400 years of systemic racism or stopped police brutality. In fact, Black men and boys are 15 times more likely to be shot and injured than their white peers. 🤷♀️ https://t.co/MFCOqZC6eG
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 13, 2020
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